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Tag: human rights
May 1, 2025
NatSec
World

China Mobilizes Pro-Beijing NGOs at UN to Silence Dissent.

PULSE POINTS:

❓What Happened: Organizations posing as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), allegedly backed by the Chinese government, are increasingly involved at the United Nations (UN) to counter criticism of China’s human rights record.

👥 Who’s Involved: Chinese-backed NGOs, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the Chinese government, the UN Human Rights Council, and human rights activists.

📍 Where & When: United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland; information revealed in a report published on April 28.

💬 Key Quote: “In 2024, 33 Chinese NGOs showed up about 300 times on the lists of speakers at Human Rights Council sessions. There were only three of them in 2018. None criticized China,” the ICIJ report notes.

⚠️ Impact: This development may undermine the monitoring and documentation of global human rights violations by the UN, as Beijing’s influence alters the discourse and potentially silences dissent.

IN FULL:

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) has reported that the Chinese government uses NGOs to squash criticism of its human rights abuses at the United Nations (UN). Released on April 28, this finding is part of a broader investigation into the communist state’s attempts at transnational repression under the leadership of Xi Jinping.

“Since Xi’s reelection as Communist Party general secretary in 2017 and president the following year, China has sought greater influence within the UN human rights system and become more aggressive in silencing dissent,” the ICIJ report states, adding that since 2018 the number of Chinese groups holding consultative status at the UN has nearly doubled. The report goes on to contend that of the 106 Chinese NGOs holding consultative status, 59 demonstrate concerning signs that they are “closely connected” with the regime in Beijing.

According to the ICIJ, ten of the Chinese NGOs receive over 50 percent of their funding from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Additionally, at least 46 NGOs are led by individuals who also hold official positions within the Chinese government. Even more troubling, the report states that 53 of the China-backed organizations openly pledge loyalty to the CCP on their websites. At the same time, another ten acknowledged that they defer key decision-making to Chinese government officials.

The CCP appears to primarily use the NGOs to push back against allegations that their regime has engaged in numerous human rights abuses, especially regarding religious and ethnic minorities like the Uyghurs. “In 2024, 33 Chinese NGOs showed up about 300 times on the lists of speakers at Human Rights Council sessions. There were only three of them in 2018. None criticized China,” the report notes.

Some human rights activists also contend that the NGOs are tasked with monitoring and intimidating individuals at the UN who are critical of Beijing’s actions.

Image by Remko Tanis.

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PULSE POINTS:

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March 27, 2025
Christopher Tomlinson
Crime
Immigration
UK

Judge Spares Pedo Pakistani From Deportation Because He’s an Alcoholic.

A judge has stopped the deportation of a Pakistani migrant from Britain, despite a conviction for sexually assaulting an underage girl, because he is an alcoholic. The migrant had attacked the young girl after his release from prison, where he had served time for other sexual crimes.

While serving just a year in prison for the sex attack, the migrant appealed a deportation order, arguing that he would experience inhumane treatment if sent back to Pakistan, where alcohol is largely illegal. He claimed that his alcoholism would disadvantage him and that he would not be able to seek treatment for it in the Muslim-majority country.

The judge agreed with the migrant’s arguments, which also cited Pakistan’s prison conditions, noting that it would breach his supposed rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), enforced by the supranational European Court of Human Rights, which Britain did not leave after Brexit.

The migrant also argued that he has a child in Britain—which could have seen him avoid deportation per his “right to a family life”—but the court noted he and the child had not communicated since 2020.

The case is just the latest example of dangerous foreign criminals being allowed to remain in the United Kingdom due to the country’s adherence to the ECHR. Reform Party leader Nigel Farage has called for Britain to leave the ECHR to deport criminal migrants. In his first speech in the House of Commons last July, he called for a referendum on the subject.

Image by Metro Centric.

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A judge has stopped the deportation of a Pakistani migrant from Britain, despite a conviction for sexually assaulting an underage girl, because he is an alcoholic. The migrant had attacked the young girl after his release from prison, where he had served time for other sexual crimes. show more
January 8, 2025
William Upton
NatSec
TECH
World

STUDY: TikTok Pushes Pro-CCP Propaganda on American Youth.

A new academic study released by Rutgers University’s Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) indicates that the TikTok social media platform, owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled company ByteDance, is used to promote pro-CCP propaganda among American youth. The study, an update to a preliminary report published by NCRI last August, reveals a bevy of evidence that TikTok routinely downplays negative content regarding the Chinese state, Communist Party, and their history of repression when searched even by U.S. audiences.

Using several dummy accounts, researchers could gauge the types of content users encounter through TikTok’s algorithm when searching for content that should explicitly expose controversies regarding the CCP’s historical actions. A comparative analysis by the researchers found that negative CCP content was generated over 80 percent of the time when searching the subject of “Uyghurs” on Instagram. The same search on TikTok generated negative CCP content just 11 percent of the time.

Likewise, on YouTube, searches for “Tiananmen” turned up negative CCP content 65 percent of the time. Conversely, just 20 percent of the content generated by the same search on TikTok was negative. Overall, the Rutgers study found TikTok’s algorithm appears set to generate overwhelming pro-CCP content when a user searches a subject where China has been embroiled in criticism and controversy.

INFLUENCING THE WEST.

The researchers argue that TikTok is a prime example of the CCP’s use of “persuasive technologies” as part of a broader propaganda campaign to influence public perception of the communist country in the Western world. According to polling data cited by the study, the more time users spent on TikTok, the more positive they perceived China’s human rights record toward political and ethnic minorities.

The study’s release comes just days before the U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments regarding a possible ban on TikTok.

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A new academic study released by Rutgers University's Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI) indicates that the TikTok social media platform, owned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)-controlled company ByteDance, is used to promote pro-CCP propaganda among American youth. The study, an update to a preliminary report published by NCRI last August, reveals a bevy of evidence that TikTok routinely downplays negative content regarding the Chinese state, Communist Party, and their history of repression when searched even by U.S. audiences. show more
December 18, 2024
Politics
War

Palestinians Sue State Department Over U.S. Military Aid to Israel.

Palestinians are suing the U.S. Department of State over the Biden-Harris government’s supply of military aid to Israel for its ongoing military campaign against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. The lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. federal court on Tuesday, alleges the American government is allowing Israel to circumvent a series of U.S. human rights laws enacted by former Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in 1997. According to the “Leahy Laws,” the United States cannot grant foreign military aid to a country if there is evidence of human rights abuses.

“My surviving family members in Gaza have been forcibly displaced four times since October, living in constant fear of indiscriminate Israeli attacks carried out with American weapons,” one of the plaintiffs, a Palestinian-American, said in a statement. “The U.S. government’s military assistance to these abusive Israeli forces, which our own laws prohibit, is enabling these Israeli harms to me and my family,” he added.

‘DOUBLE STANDARD.’

The plaintiffs in the case contend the U.S. is engaging in a double standard by supplying Israel with military aid. In the legal filing, they claim it is “reasonable to assess” that the Jewish State—using American-supplied weapons—violated international law in the course of its military operations in Gaza. These violations, they argue, should trigger the Leahy Laws, barring any further support. Hamas-aligned Gaza health officials claim 45,000 Palestinians have died in the conflict. However, Israel has consistently claimed its military has made every effort to minimize civilian casualties.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues to maintain that the allegations of a double standard in how the U.S. treats Israel compared to other nations are unfounded. In May, the Department of State—in a report to Congress—claimed insufficient evidence existed to trigger the Leahy Laws. The report did state, however, that the department continues to monitor Israel’s compliance with both the foreign military aid statute and international human rights laws.

The U.S. government has allocated approximately $17.9 billion in military aid to Israel since the start of the country’s war against Hamas over a year ago.

Image by Naaman Omar via Wikimedia Commons.

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Palestinians are suing the U.S. Department of State over the Biden-Harris government's supply of military aid to Israel for its ongoing military campaign against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip. The lawsuit, which was filed in a U.S. federal court on Tuesday, alleges the American government is allowing Israel to circumvent a series of U.S. human rights laws enacted by former Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in 1997. According to the "Leahy Laws," the United States cannot grant foreign military aid to a country if there is evidence of human rights abuses. show more